The US Kids Malaysian Championships: Pint-sized Divjot Gupta had his best day of the week with a surge of three birdies late in his round to win the top honours in the Boys 8 and Under at the US Kids Malaysian Championships.
Divjot, a prolific winner on the Indian circuit, had rounds of 40-37-36 to total 5-over 117 and win by six shots over Indonesia's Michael Clifton Lumy, who struggled to 5-over 41 on the last day.
In the same category, India’s other entry Ruslaan Alam Khan finished third.
India’s notable success in the week was Arshvant Srivastava’s second place in the Boys 13-14. Arshvant, who led after the first and second rounds, dropped with late bogeys in his third and final round of 77 and finished one shot behind the 36-hole leader Korea’s Kang Geon, whose final round of 73, helped him pick the title, leaving the Indian in second position.
Also, in the Boys 13-14 Category, Sohang Har Kantor (79) was seventh, while Ved Sai Machiraju (81) was T-14.
Jot Sarup Gupta (87) finished fourth in Boys 10 and under, which was won by Aoran Zhang of China, who shot 74 in the final round.
The lone Indian girl in the event, Kriti Parekh, struggled on the back nine during her round of 82 and finished fourth in Girls 13-14.
Overall, it was a good outing for the seven-member Indian contingent with one win, one second place and one third place and two fourth places.
The three-day event carried WAGR points and granted Priority points for entries into US Kids World Championships and European Championships later in the year.
A total of 106 junior golfers from 16 countries, including 37 players from Malaysia, are competing in the three-day tournament.
The US Kids Malaysian Championships is the first regional Nationals under the US Kids umbrella in Asia this year. It will be followed by more such events in Thailand, Singapore and India.